Becoming licensed through FINRA with felony
I was convicted of a felony DUI over 2 yrs ago in the state of AZ. The state does not do expungements and from what I'm hearing a set aside will not matter. I did speak with a FINRA rep in disqualifications, and she said that it ultimately is up to the hiring company if they want to hire me (filing an MC-400 form). Has anyone dealt with this and if so, can you please give me any advice on who to apply to/best way(s) to overcoming this to get licensed? It is a dream of mine I do not want to give up on for 10 years of my career.
So the question would be 1) which role are you going for that requires a FINRA license/which one? 2) which employer is willing to hire with a felony record? 3) can you avoid the licensing part and do a similar role without one?
I am not going to judge or attack you personally, but in my entire professional life I have never seen anyone with a felony get a job offer in a professional role. Companies are very risk averse and would typically not go for this type of candidate profile. Especially in a regulated role.
So I guess I'll have to wait for the 10 year period. Thanks for your experience on the matter.
What happens after 10 years? I’m not confident that it all of a sudden becomes hidden. the fingerprint check involved will pull up results I would think. I think you’re in a tough spot, and I sympathize a little even but Felony DUI is a result of either repeat DUIs or aggravating circumstances like on a suspended license, driving with a child (which you probably weren’t) or causing injury or death (which probably ended up happening). I wish I could give solid advice on next steps but this is sort of transcends the finance realm and goes into the broader issues of convicted felons face with barriers re-entering the workforce. It’s the felony that really may put the nail in the coffin I assume it’s too late to find a way to get the felony down to a misdemeanor. The best bet is to find the right advisors (someone off WSO) and set up a long term plan. Time may be your biggest friend showing what you’ve learn and how you’ve grown etc. if you do an MBA like 5 years down the line. people on WSO quibble about ton-targets and targets and SATs and networking - all that’s indicative of the giant volumes of hungry kids clamoring to get into finance where the differentiating factors can be razor thin. Something like a felony would take you out of the running extremely easily with a pool full of other people to choose from. unless you build up a differentiated skill set which is impossible in IB but like if you’re a crazy quant, then I think you’re SOL but maybe not forever
This is something that didn't involve any injury or damage to property. It was still a mistake on my end, but a technicality that AZ seems to be the only ones that make a felony. In terms of the 10 year period, it's the unofficial disqualification FINRA suggests, from what they told me to when I can become licensed again. When I say suggests, I say this because the FINRA rep. mentioned that they don't block me from becoming licensed. It's whoever the employer is; they can back me with a form to bypass the "rule" and become licensed. Problem is finding someone to do so. Thank you for the advice.
Ok so 10 years you can become FINRA licensed but not sure you’ll be able to hide from the employer BUT if it’s as you say and it’s more of a regular way DUI vs. multiple DUIs then 10 years would soften their stance I hope. If you got 3 DUIs in 7 years (just googling what is a felony DUI in AZ) then it’s probably game over as repeat behavior and poor judgement. You don’t seem to be alone though, I just found this as a top search
https://www.financial-planning.com/news/rejoining-the-financial-industr…
Again I would try to seek better help on this matter but I wouldn’t just resign myself to 10 years of nothing just yet. if you’re still in College, there may be resources for you. you won’t get into a BB or EB or MM or probably even LMM, but maybe there’s a local bank that does super small scale investment banking and brokerage or some sort of wealth management idk where you could develop a more personal relationship and get in. somewhere where there aren’t 4 other people who are down for the job in Flagstaff or wherever. then bide your time and then go back to school and try and work your way up slowly. ultimately if you like the nature of the job then it’s the job/role that’s more important than the $$$$s you could be banking at Goldman. there’s got to be some small way to participate it if there’s been articles written about it. guess the biggest thing is a DUI isn’t securities fraud. again this is just me thinking out loud with no experience to back this up. on the international point, the above poster may be right and probably is, but I would double check that. This is all also assuming a ton of other stuff about where you went to school, your prior network etc., but everyone loves a Harvard kid and if you go to some remote area Germany and ask to intern for free at a small place who knows what’ll happen?
Since you are a convicted felon, do you qualify for rehabilitation programs? What is the state going to do to help you out? Do they have job placement programs? A record does not automatically disqualify you from all jobs in finance, but I seriously doubt that financial service providers will actually hire you. I think other advice you'll find online would be "not very legal" and it would potentially lead to other felonies. We don't want that to happen.
which industries in general are more inclined to hire you? that would be the question.
I think I’m slightly more bullish maybe because I just don’t think you should throw away the towel without making a solid attempt. I know people who have gotten DUIs who are in the industry (literally only 2), but none were felonies. One the guy had experience in the field for like 15 years and the other not exactly sure what happened but it could’ve been taken down to an infraction even. All I know is a DUI in and of itself as an offense is not a blanket deal breaker for all time. again each case is different. I think Gumball3000 is likely giving the hard practical truth, but what have you got to lose (literally) by fleshing it out more?
I've done some, and this includes everything that was asked of me by probation where I was granted early termination from probation. I'm just wondering after 4-5 applications if I'm wasting my time so soon after and I should wait. Every interview it seemed the management wanted to hire me but HR was the road block in each of them.
Why won’t a set aside work? From what I’ve read background checks only look for convictions and I don’t believe that you have to disclose non-convictions prior to employment (could be wrong).
Either way I’d pursue the set-aside as it seems like it offers a lot of benefits even if it doesn’t help your FINRA goal in the end.
Also, I agree with the other guys. You should try everything you can. You just need to get a foot in the door some place and you can explain what happened, what you learned from it, how you’ve made attempts to right your wrong, etc. I know a handful of people who had gotten DUIs and still pursued their careers (albeit not in finance).
Good luck man
Thank you for the response and kind words. I am in the works with speaking with the governors office about the situation. From what I've heard, even with a set aside companies still say "you were still found guilty of a felony", no matter if it says set aside or not and that is the issue I've laid out.
I’m in a similar situation, but don’t have a felony only have a misdemeanor. My advice to you would be to look for a job that doesn’t require FINRA licensing.
That 10 year window is unlikely to save you because FBI background checks show everything, and although you won’t technically be automatically barred, good luck finding a firm to back you up.
really depends on the person who runs the group you are interviewing for. one of my old trading bosses (fun guy...no ill will) was a hardcore coke addict..and did lots of other stuff too. i can't imagine him dinging you for getting caught doing things that i'm sure he has done many times himself, and worse (many fireable offences..lots of illegal crap..including financial crimes...real wolf of wall street type stuff).
of course nobody wants to admit this in public, but most of us have done really stupid shit....we're just lucky that w didn't get caught..and so we understand making stupid mistakes. So, if you are interviewing with "one of us" then you just need to be honest and own up to it. However,, if you are interviewing with a boyscout with "morals" well then houston, we have a problem.
Yes, I agree whole heartedly. The problem is I dont know where to find maybe one of these smaller "mom and pop" kind of firms to get my foot in the door. I know that once I'm able to get fully licensed, I'm good to go. I will have shown that I'm not liability and I've moved on. If you know where to search some of these smaller companies or know some people from the industry, it would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to get back to doing that form of work.
What kind of work exactly are you trying to get back into doing? It’s been super vague up till now as to what your goal is besides to get FINRA licensed and do work that requires a FINRA license. This will necessitate what and where/how to find mom and pop shops or if they even exist (like if you were doing interest rate swap sales then you’re out of luck finding a mom and pop shop).
People will hire you with a DUI. It’s not like it comes up in the interview anyways. Just put it on the form, it may come up in background check but you tell the truth and it will be fine
could be wrong, but I remember when I was studying for the SIE, one of the questions was what activity would bar you for life from working in a position you need a finra license for (don’t exactly remember the wording) but the answer was DUI.. not sure if it is or isn’t dated at this point but you should check out to even see if you’re eligible to be licensed (I understand you talked with a finra rep but those people probably don’t know shit)
and btw reason I remembered this was because another one of the multiple choice answers was stealing, and that was really surprising to me that theft wouldn’t bar you but a dui would
that seems off? I know people with DUIs working in IBD that require FINRA Series 79 licenses.
what do you want to do with it?
financial advising
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